On Relativity
by Netbug009
Summary: [ENDGAME SPOILERS!] Quill loves his family and would do anything to protect them. Rocket loves his family and would do anything to protect them. So, naturally, they have a fight over it.
1. On Relativity

"Guys… _I've got her._"

Everything froze. Drax's epic story to Mantis about his arena days. Mantis' giddy yammering as she absorbed her friend's excitement. Nebula grunting as she failed to get the high score in _Arcade Defender_. Groot's backseat gaming. Thor's never-ending questions about space. Rocket's never-ending answers as he tinkered with something explosive.

It took a moment for the (As)Guardians of the Galaxy to process that they'd actually heard Quill say what they thought he'd said before the six nearly trampled each other to get a better view of Quill's monitor and the odd life signal flickering in and out next to an old mugshot of Gamora.

"Are you certain?" Drax asked.

"That's her," Quill replied, his hands trembling and one slowly reaching towards his long-missing girlfriend's photo on the screen. "Exact DNA scan. It took forever but this could only be her." Quill shot back down into his seat and started working the Benatar's controls. "Setting course now. Get ready for 3 jumps."

"I am Groot?"

"I don't know. Some mudball in the Helgentar System called Vormir."

Nebula, Thor, and Rocket shared a look that Mantis didn't have a chance to ask about before Quill continued. "Jumping in 5, 4-"

"**Wait.**"

Quill stopped with his finger an inch from the jump button. He didn't move it when he looked over at Rocket, perplexed. "What? What's the problem?"

"That ain't just some mudball; it's where the Soul Stone is."

"..._What?_"

Thor glanced between Rocket and Quill, debating if he should speak but knowing he could not keep such important information from his new team… and also knowing who else might yet be alive if his hunch was correct. "That would make sense. Maybe."

Strange for this group, nobody interjected, so Thor continued. "There is a legend about the Soul Stone among my people, in which it can not only control souls but also house them. There is said to be an entire alternate world inside of that stone. If such a place does exist, it's possible that's where your friend has found herself."

"So you're saying that if we want to find Gamora, we need to go for Vormir," Quill's hand was now a centimeter from the jump button, "get inside the Soul Stone, and bring her out?"

"Assuming the legend is true, yes."

"Well, I guess we're going to Vormir to find ou-"

"Quill, would you slow down for a second, _please_?" Rocket pleaded.

Quill blinked at Rocket actually displaying manners. His finger was now close enough to the jump button that an accidental twitch could fling them across the Galaxy.

"This is an _Infinity Stone_ we're talking about. Remember? We all held one on Xandar and would have died if your mom hadn't gotten knocked up by an all-powerful planet? One of those things that Thanos used to cause pretty much the worst day ever? The one that specifically got Gamora killed in the first place? Maybe you weren't listening when we filled you guys in on how we saved your sorry butts, but the Soul Stone deals in lives. You have to off someone to even get your hands on it much less figure out how to get in and out of it. We could go there to pick up one person only to have to leave someone else there. Add some whole other world we know nothing about except for Thor's fairy tale into the mix and we could all wind up dead."

"...So you're saying," Quill glared, " we _shouldn't_ try to rescue Gamora."

"Oh for-" Rocket rolled his eyes. "I'm saying we shouldn't mess with a crazy powerful cosmic object that could easily kill us all! Again!"

"Yeah, except that's the only way to rescue Gamora," Quill's volume started increasing and he finally moved his finger away from the console to ball both his hands into fists, "so you're saying we shouldn't rescue Gamora!"

"We don't even know if she's actually there or if your stupid 'upgrade' of a ship is glitching out!"

"Yeah, but if it isn't a glitch, you're saying we shouldn't rescue Gamora!"

"**Fine! I'm saying we shouldn't rescue Gamora! You happy now?!**"

Rocket didn't recognize the next expression on Quill's face, but Mantis, Nebula, and Drax did. They'd seen it on Titan.

"...Are…" Quill chuckled in disbelief. "Are you for real right now? First you run with your tail between your legs from Thanos and now you're afraid of one of his _rocks?!"_

Thor took a step forward, his eyes starting to glow faintly. Groot extended his arm as a barricade. "I am Groot." _No, let this happen._

"Watch it, Quill," Rocket said through his teeth.

"_You_ watch it!" He took a step towards Rocket, but he didn't expect Rocket to actually take a step back in response. Quill paused for a moment at this but it only seemed to make him more angry.

"Gamora's our friend! Our family! **How could you not even care what happens to your family?!**"

Silence.

Absolute and instant silence. Quill realized his mistake before his last sentence had finished echoing across the bridge. Rocket stared at him with an expressionof complete betrayal and his eyes started to water.

Surely, Rocket - of all people - would start yelling back before any actual tears could fall.

He didn't.

"...Rocket," Quill reached a hand out towards his friend. Rocket had never looked so _small_ before. "I'm s-"

"It's fine." Rocket said with a cracking, quiet voice as he stared at the floor. "I'm sorry. Of course I want to save her, I just… Just… keep working on the rescue plan without me, okay? I'm gonna go make sure our gear's ready."

Nobody said a word as Rocket left the bridge, and Quill was fully prepared for someone to all but murder him as soon as their friend was out of earshot.

He deserved it. He was ready for it.

He did not expect "someone" to be Gamora's sister.

Nebula was on Quill the moment Rocket had left, punching him square in the jaw with a metal fist. Drax and Groot both stepped forward, ready to hold her back if she swung again. Mantis' antennae glowed and she reached a hand towards her. Thor did absolutely nothing.

"Do not touch me," Nebula warned Mantis. "I do not wish to be calm about this." Mantis realized Nebula was going to stop at a single punch and complied; the fact that Quill was getting back up and was still able to talk was sign enough that she'd held back a little.

"Ow," Quill said, groaning as he stood. "What the hell, Nebula? I thought you of all people would be with me on th-"

"Five years."

Quill's eyes widened. Mantis, Drax, and Groot all looked between each other with varying levels of surprise.

Before that moment, there had been a silent agreement among the Guardians that the victims of The Snap didn't need to know and didn't want to know exactly how much time they'd lost. Measurable time in Space was barely a thing to begin with, seeing how every culture had its own system and trying to keep everything on a single calendar was a fruitless chore they'd long since abandoned in favor of pretending it was somebody's birthday whenever the team felt like it'd been long enough and wanted something to get merrily plastered over. Quantifying just how long most of the Guardians had been "sleeping" seemed so pointless and depressing.

Until Nebula, with wisdom she usually kept under a cloak of violence, realized it meant absolutely everything.

"For five years," Nebula continued, "he played your same paltry collection of music every day. Like clockwork. He'd tell me which song was each of your favorites whenever it started playing as if he'd never mentioned it before. For five years, in every free moment, he shared stories about every little thing all of you did together from idiotic space adventures to the tree learning how to walk to pointless verbal exchanges he found amusing. For five years, he complained about how hard such a large vessel was to maintain but protested violently at the mere suggestion of trading it for something befitting two people. For five years I pretended I didn't hear him crying himself to sleep on the occasional night he tried to rest and for five years I pretended I believed him when he insisted he wasn't having horrific nightmares."

"He _never _got over it, not even once, and when he realized there was the smallest hope that he might regain even a _fraction_ of what he lost he was ready to die, not because of any sort of altruism but because dying for the only people who ever loved him sounded better than spending another second alone with his thoughts and single companion who never had the words to help him with his grief in the slightest."

She grabbed Peter by the collar. Nobody, including Quill, moved to stop her.

"Five. Years. And you have the absolute unshackled _insolence_ to ask him if he cares about his family?"

She put him down and returned to her seat on the bridge without another word but kept an aura of animosity. He'd rather she just punched him again.

It took Quill several minutes to break out of his guilt-driven daze. When he did, Thor seemed to be examining Stormbreaker in a new light. Drax and Mantis has resumed their earlier conversation with less vigor and much more whispering. Sometime during Nebula's tirade, Groot had left the bridge altogether. Quill wanted out of the crushing silence and hesitantly started the Zune back up.

_"Southern Nights, have you ever felt a-"_

He shut the Zune back off.

* * *

A/N: I have a theory about how Guardians 3 might go and a potential conflict it could have. I wrote a Tumblr post about it and kept getting more ideas until finally woops, it's a fanfic now I guess? Anyways this isn't meant to bash Quill in any way - he makes bad choices because he's emotional and loves his family but he means well and he's doing his best.


	2. Dad And Other Love Languages

_Dad?_

Groot wakes up where he fell in the fields of Wakanda and immediately looks to see if his hand is intact. It's there. He's all there. He tries to decipher what really happened and what he might have hallucinated from taking a blow to the head, but everything up until the last moment felt so _real_. His hand turning to dust as he reached out to Rocket. His vision going in pieces like dead pixels on his ancient game console. Not feeling like he was dying, per say, but like he never existed to begin with.

Maybe reality and a bad hit to the head got a little mixed up somewhere along the way, but he knows for a fact that before he fell asleep there was a lot more chaos and a lot more people than one man with a metal arm sitting on a log nearby and polishing a gun.

"I am Groot?"

The man looks over from his busywork. "Oh, you're back." He leaves the gun on the log and walks over. "Okoye told me to wait for you while she got everyone else organized. You were with the raccoon, right?"

He should be more skeptic, but something about a messy guy with an attachment to a firearm makes Groot comfortable and he nods.

"Great. There's not much time to explain, and _I'm_ not even completely sure what is going on, but if you're up for a fight to help your pal we need all the help we can get."

* * *

Cannon fire explodes too close to Groot and he's sent flying and tumbling to the ground. For some reason, it's then that he remembers what Rocket said about how "The Old Groot" was killed in relation to one of Thanos' ships and a fight over infinity stones and it's the last straw. All of it is too much and Groot stays curled up on the ground regretting every time he told Dad that he was a practically an adult and didn't need so much attention.

But then familiar shouting drowns out the ringing in Groot's ears, and the next thing he knows Rocket is clinging to him with more loneliness and desperation and gray hairs than he could have possibly built up in the few hours Groot has perceived since they arrived in Wakanda. One look and Groot knows he's missed something critical, but it hardly matters now as the warship aims right at the two of them.

After they miraculously made it out of that mess with their lives, Groot wonders if Rocket actually thought he could shield the relatively tall teenager from a gigantic cannon with his tiny body or if he just wanted to spend their last moments together. It's one of many things he doesn't know how to ask, and realizing he'd been gone for as long as he'd been alive only took him from knee-deep in questions to absolutely drowning.

_"He shared stories about every little thing all of you did together from idiotic space adventures to the tree learning how to walk."_

But right now, he only needs the answer to one.

Groot knocks on Rocket's door.

"I am Groot?" _Are you okay, Dad? _

_'_Dad.' He'd first called Rocket that in a moment of desperation, but he likes it. Peter had told him many stories about how Rocket had taken care of him from the moment he came into the world. He had also told Groot about how a dad wasn't always related to you biologically, rather 'Dad' was an earned title for someone who looked after you and loved you more than anyone else, even if they had a weird way of showing it.

That sounded like Rocket.

No response. He knocks again. "I am-"

"I'm fine. I'm working. Don't come in."

Groot remembers many occasions when he told Dad not to come into his room and he did anyway, so Groot decides to return the favor.

The lights are off. This wasn't completely unheard of for Rocket, since he had exceptional night vision and sometimes had such a brilliant idea for a weapon or explosive that he did a beeline to his work bench without bothering to turn them on, but there are no sounds of tinkering or glowing or torches or any indication that Rocket is even there at all.

Groot, not all that surprised, flicks the light switch and reveals Rocket curled up on his bunk, doing his best to pretend he hasn't been sobbing before Groot had shown up but being betrayed by sniffles and shivers. He doesn't move when Groot walks over to get a better look at him - either he knows he can't fool Groot of he's simply that despondent.

"I…" _D'ast_. Sometimes Groot felt like he received how vulnerable Rocket could be around him as a gift from a better version of himself who actually knew how to handle it. What would the old Groot say?

"I am Groot."

"I know he didn't mean it." Rocket stands up and dangles his legs off the side of the bed, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. Groot moves to sit beside him. "And I didn't mean that I don't want to rescue Gamora."

"I just want to do this _right_ for once. Just one time, I want everyone to get out alive, and…"

"I am Groot."

"Yeah. Five years _is_ a long time. You're the one to talk, too. Does this nonsense make you five years old or _ten_ now?"

"...I am Groot?"

That gets a smirk out of Rocket. Maybe he doesn't need to be the Old Groot for this after all. "No, it _does _**_not_** mean you're old enough to pilot my ship now, but nice try."

"I am Groot!"

"Right. _Quill's_ ship. That's what I said."

Groot is about to laugh, and then he sees Rocket's awkward expression and realizes that it wasn't a joke, rather than honest slip from Quill being gone so long.

_Quill._ Quill didn't mean it. They both knew it. They both knew he tried to take it back before Rocket cut him off and left him to Nebula's righteous indignation, but one look at Rocket and Groot knows it still hurt to hear regardless.

Maybe, Groot realizes, Rocket doesn't need any questions right now. Maybe he doesn't even need any of that sage Groot Sr. wisdom. Maybe all he needs is…

"... I am Groot?" _Dad?_

"What? No means no, no matter how big you make your eyes or how nicely you're about to ask. You're not getting in the driver's seat of this baby for at least another _decade_ and that's fi-"

"I am Groot."

_'Thank you for saving my life.'_

Every ounce of bravado Rocket has drains away instantaneously. He stares at Groot, trying to process what he just heard.

Partially because he means it and partially because the look on Dad's face is absolutely priceless, he continues. "I am Groot." _'Thor told us about Asgard. He would have failed without you.'_ "I am Groot." _'We're here because you never gave up on us.' _"I am Gro-"

The air is crushed out of Groot's lungs.

Rocket grabs his son and holds onto him with the same intensity he had back when he'd first found him on the battlefield, burying his face in Groot's chest and not even trying to hold back violent surges of tears anymore. His tiny frame releases sob after sob as Groot rubs circles on his back and wonders how long he's needed this hug for.

A few minutes passed before Rocket is calm enough to speak between tears.

"I… I know you're not a twig anymore and I know you're getting too old for me trying to keep you away from all the trouble we get ourselves into but… just… l-let me stay like this a little longer, okay? I just want a little more time…"

There have been a few moments in Groot's short life when he's wondered if he and the Old Groot are truly completely separate people, and this was one of them, because as Rocket holds him with every ounce of tender strength in his tiny body Groot feels like he loves his dad more than a single person could possibly love anybody.


	3. Family as a Coping Mechanism

"Get it together."

It takes Thor a moment to process that Rocket had just _slapped_ him, and it was decidedly the least helpful thing the rabbit could have done. If he wasn't so upset, and perhaps if the one slapping him had been a little bigger, he would have returned with a blow of his own, but his emotions slowed his reflexes and meant Rocket kept ranting before he could do or say anything. Thor was so close to going over the edge at this point that he didn't catch all of it, but the last part. That last part. That stood out.

"...and help me get my family back?"

Family. The idea of the people you fight with being the people you drink and sing and love with was so built into his culture, so absent from the Avengers, maybe that was why he'd been so enamored the Guardians after his short time aboard their ship. That was obviously what the strange band of space-farers was if the snarky stories he'd heard so often were anything to go by, but...

Family. Thor had never actually heard Rocket _call _them that before.

"...Okay."

"Are you crying?"

"No," Thor choked. "Yes."

"Get it together. You can do this." Rocket paused, mustering up his best attempt at being soothing. "You can do this, all right?"

But he couldn't. He'd wound up running away, leaving Rocket to handle the entire mission by himself while he spent time they didn't have with his mother. Looking back, Thor realized Rocket had very uncharacteristically never given him a hard time about that. In additional retrospect, Rocket along with Hulk had gone out of their way to find him, neither one with a metal suit or a magic hammer or any way to travel to New Asgard quicker than the back of a pickup truck.

Rocket may not have used the word "family" very often, but he lived it. That, Thor knew, was why he'd jumped at the invitation to wedge himself into this strange little crew, if only for a short time until destiny found him again. Now, Rocket had ran off somewhere crying, Groot had followed shortly after, and the rest of Thor's new family was dead quiet, the only notable movement being Mantis' glowing antennae paired with a pitiful look directed at the pilot.

"Why not simply apologize to him then?" Mantis asked, as if anybody needed emphatic abilities to get the massive aura of guilt coming off Quill.

"I don't..." Quill ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know how to take something like that back."

"It's simple," Drax said. "You walk up to Rocket and say you take your devastating insult against his five years of emotional trauma and grief back." Quill lets out a single dry chuckle and rubbed his temples, but after a few more moments of quiet his eyes widened with a realization.

"...Five years," Quill breathed. "He's been mourning us longer than he's _known_ us."

With that, Thor could take no more and left the bridge after Groot.

* * *

Maybe it was a little devious of Groot to use Rocket's current "I missed you so much and I love you and I want to spend more time with you," state of emotional vulnerability to finally get his dad to try _Arcade Defender_, but shooting pixels into oblivion really did seem to be helping the violent pilot calm down.

"I am Groot."

"Yeah, I see the portal."

"I am Groot!"

"No, I don't want to waste the power-up alright? I'm saving it for - damnit."

"I am Groot!"

"No, I blew up because _you're_ a distracting little twig! Quit backseat driving or... whatever you're..." Rocket noticed Groot looking at the door and turned to see Thor poking his head in. The asgardian had been quietly watching the moment, not wanting to interrupt. "Oh. Hey. You coming in or what?"

Thor put on his best smile for his friend (the tear stains were still visible) and sauntered into the room, eyeing Groot's game console. "Ah yes, Tree's Earth game! Which button do you press to dance tauntingly at your 99 opponents?"

"_What?_"

"Er, nothing. Forget I said anything."

"Mmm." Rocket started a new game. Groot grinned ear to ear over how much Dad was enjoying one of his favorite things. The fact that Rocket may not give it back till he beat Groot's high score would sink in later. "So what do you want?"

"I... simply wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rocket mumbled absentmindedly as tiny enemy ships exploded.

That felt too easy. The last time everyone seemed fine and Thor left them alone he'd come back to find Tony with a broken arc reactior and equally broken heart. "Are you certain?"

"Yeah, sure. Look, Quill says stupid crap all the time, alright? It's not that big a deal."

"Yes, except you don't normally cry about it."

That, Thor realized from the way Rocket's expression fell, had been a mistake. "Groot, take over." Rocket shoved the console at Groot, who kept playing as requested but was mostly giving Thor a look that was hard to decipher. "So, what Thor? You here to tell me what a big baby I was for crying and running away, huh?"

Ouch. "Well, I'd hardly be one to talk, now wouldn't I?"

Rocket clearly didn't expect that and his hard expression weakened. Thor had plenty of pride, but only when he'd earned it. "Yeah. Exactly. So why did you come down here?"

Why _did_ Thor come to Rocket's room? Did he think he would be able to comfort Rocket if Groot hadn't been able to? How conceited of him to even consider such was possible.

"I'm sorry. I simply felt that maybe my presence could be of some use to you, but perhaps that was arrogant of me." Rocket stood on his bed to get closer to Thor's eye level. Thor in return lowered himself as much as he deemed wouldn't offend. "It has been a long time since I have felt part of a family. I don't want to lose this one that you invited me to be a part of so quickly over something I could have helped fix."

Rocket stared him down, skeptic. Groot had long since abandoned the game and was watching the two of them carefully.

"Rabbit, you are a dear friend to me. When you arrived to visit me in New Asgard, I felt nothing but joy despite my condition. I hope one day I can earn your trust so that you see my presence in a similar light."

Rocket's expression didn't change. "I am Groot." 'That's asking a lot.'

"I know, Tree," Thor smirked, "but one can hope."

"Yeah, well, hope all you want, but right now I'm fine and having an important private discussion with Groot, so go away."

"Right..." Thor sighed. Rocket's aloof attitude reminded him of his brother sometimes - maybe either of them returning his familial feelings of love and goodwill as strongly as Thor gave them was indeed too much to hope for. He stood and headed for the door.

"Oh, uh, Thor? One more thing." Thor braced himself for a quip about the door or making sure to take all of his hair with him. "I'm sorry."

"...For what?"

"What do you think, genius? Slapping you when you needed my help. I'm sorry, alright?"

Thor smiled, touched by Rocket's unexpected kindness. "Of course, Rabbit," he said as he exited Rocket's quarters, "All is forgiven."

"Oh, and make sure all your hair leaves with you."

_There _it was. Rocket would be fine.

* * *

A/N: I loved how emotionally vulnerable Rocket was on Asgard. He's also horrible at mental healthcare and I wanted to address that. Don't slap your anxious friends, kids!

If I have to live with the knowledge that Thor probably thinks all Earth games are Fortnite now so do all of you.


End file.
